Uruguay 1930 World Cup

The 13 teams that qualified were drawn into four groups with Brazil being one of the four seeded teams along with Uruguay, Argentina and the United States.  Brazil, who were in the middle of an internal dispute and therefore submitted a squad of players all from Rio de Janeiro, were drawn with Yugoslavia and Bolivia.  Despite not having a full nation of players to select, Brazil was widely expected to qualify and advance to the semi finals.  In their opening game, Brazil was surprisingly beaten 2 - 1 by Yugoslavia.  The boys from Brazil went on to beat Bolivia with ease but were eliminated due to Yugoslavia also beating group two’s whipping boys. 

They were joined in the semi finals by Argentina, Uruguay and the United States.  Both of the South American nations triumphed 6 – 1 and went on to contest the first ever World Cup Final a rematch of the 1928 Olympic Games final.  An official attendance of 93, 000 attended the match in Montevideo.  The final started with some difficulties as neither side could agree on which ball to use so each side contributed a ball for each half.  At half time the Argentineans led by two goals to one, but a second half fight back from the host nation would see Uruguay emerge as victors by four goals to two and Uruguay added the World Cup to their Olympic title to rubber stamp their status as the best side on the planet, a title they could claim for the next four years until the competition would move onto Italy.

Statistics:

Matches: 18
Goals: 70 (3.9 per match)
Attendance: 434 500 (average 24 138)
Golden Boot Winner: Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) 8 goals